Wine Country

Wine Country follows a group of longtime friends (Amy Poehler’s Abby, Rachel Dratch’s Rebecca, Ana Gasteyer’s Catherine, Maya Rudolph’s Naomi, Paula Pell’s Val, and Emily Spivey’s Jenny) as they head to Napa for a weekend getaway, with the narrative detailing the characters’ miscellaneous exploits in and around the title locale (as well as, of course, their efforts at coping with the various personal revelations that inevitably crop up). First-time filmmaker Poehler delivers an affable comedy that benefits substantially from the uniformly charismatic work of its cast, as the movie is, for the most part, saddled with a distinctly erratic sensibility that’s especially problematic in its opening stretch – with Poehler, working from Liz Cackowski and Spivey’s screenplay, initially employing a hit-and-miss structure that’s rife with seemingly improvised bits of silliness (eg the ladies visit a local restaurant and engage in drunken shenanigans). It’s clear, then, that Wine Country improves steadily as it progresses, as the emphasis is increasingly placed on the protagonists’ personal issues and their ongoing efforts at confronting them. (It is, admittedly, a little silly that literally each of the heroes has some secret concern that has to be pried out and dealt with over the course of the movie’s running time.) The feel-good third act ensures that the picture ends on a decidedly positive note, which ultimately does confirm Wine Country‘s place as a better-than-average contemporary comedy.

*** out of ****